CHAPTER -3

HUMAN DEVELOPMENTS
PRESENTED BY MUHSINA.P
 OVERVIEW

• INTRODUCTION
• MEANING OF DEVELOPMENT
• FACTORS INFLUENCING DEVELOPMENT
• CONTEXT OF DEVELOPMENT
• OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
• PRENATAL STAGE
• INFANCY
• CHILDHOOD
• CHALLENGES OF ADOLESCENCE
• ADULTHOOD AND OLD AGE
 MEANING OF DEVELOPMENT
• Development is the pattern of progressive, orderly, and predictable changes that
begin at conception and continue throughout life. Development mostly involves
changes — both growth and decline, as observed during old age.
• Development is influenced by an interplay of biological, cognitive, and socio-
emotional processes.
• Biological process include development due to genes Inherited from parents, such
as in height and Weight, brain, heart, and lungs development, etc.
• cognitive processes in development relate to mental activities associated with
processes of knowing and experiencing, such as thought, perception, attention,
problem solving, etc.
• Socio-emotional process that influence development refer to changes in an
individual’s interactions with other people, changes in emotions, and in personality.
For example a child hugging a mother or siblings showing affection.
Life-span perspective on development:
The study of development according to the Life-Span Perspective (LSP) includes the following assumptions :
1. Development is lifelong, i.e. it takes place across all age groups starting from conception to old age. It
includes both gain and losses.
2. The various processes of human development, i.e. biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional are
interwoven in the development of a person throughout the life-span.
3. Development is multi-directional. Some dimensions or components of a give dimension of development
may increase while others show decrement.
4. Development is highly plastic, i.e. within person, modifiability is found in psychological development,
though plasticity varies among individuals. This means skills and abilities can be improve or developed
throughout the life-span.
5. Development is influenced by historical conditions. The career orientation of school students today is
very different from those students who were in schools 50 years ago.
6. Development is the concern of a number of disciplines like psychology, anthropology, sociology, and
neuro-sciences etc.
7. An individual responds and acts on contexts, which include what was inherited, the physical
environment, social, historical, and cultural contexts. People keep on changing with changing contexts.
 GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT, MATURATION, AND
EVOLUTION
• Growth refers to an increase in the size of body parts or of the organism as a whole. It
can be measured or quantified, for example, growth in height, weight, etc.
• . Development is a process by which an individual grows and changes throughout the
life cycle.
• Maturation refers to the changes that follow an orderly sequence and are largely
dictated by the genetic blueprint which produces commonalities in our growth and
development. For example, most children can sit without support by 7 months of age,
stand with support by 8 months and walk by one year.
• Evolution refers to species-specific changes. Natural selection is an evolutionary
process that favors individuals or a species that are best adapted to survive and
reproduce. The evolutionary changes are passed from one generation to the next
within a species.
 FACTORS INFLUENCING DEVELOPMENT

• 1) Genetic inheritance: we inherit genetic codes from our parents, which are in every cell of
our body. Our genetic codes are alike in one important way; they contain the human genetic
code. It is because of the human genetic code that a fertilized human egg grows into a human
baby and cannot grow into any species.
• Genetic transmission is very complex. Most characteristics that we observe in humans are
combinations of larger number of genes. Not all possible traits provided by our genetic
structure.
• The actual genetic material or a person’s genetic heritage is known as genotype.
• Phenotype is the way an individual’s genotype is expressed in observable and measurable
characteristics. Phenotypes include physical traits, such as height, weight, eye and skin color,
and many of the psychological characteristics such as intelligence, creativity, and personality.
• Genes provide a distinct blueprint and timetable for the development of an individual.
• Environmental influences: Genes do not exist in isolation and development occurs within the
context of an individual’s environment. This is what makes each one of us a unique person.
• A child with introverted genotype may become more extroverted in an environment
that promotes social interaction.
• An individual with “short” height genes, even if s/he is in a very good nutritional
environment, will never be able to be taller than average. This shows that genes set
the limit and within that limit the environment influences development.
• Parents provide both genes and environment for the child’s development.
• Sandra Scarr (1992) believes that the environment parents provide for their children
depends to some extent on their own genetic predisposition.
• children themselves choose certain environments based on their genotype, for
example, athlete would seek sports-related environment. These interactions with
environment keep changing from infancy through adolescence.
• Environmental influences are as complex as the genes we inherit.
 CONTEXT OF DEVELOPMENT
• Urie bronfenbrenner’s contextual view of development emphasizes the role of environmental
factors in the development of an individual.
• The microsystem is the immediate environment/setting in which the individual lives. It is in
these settings where the child directly interacts with social agents the family, peers,
teachers, and neighborhood.
• The mesosystem consists of relations between these contexts. For example, how a child’s
parents relate to the teachers, or how the parents view the adolescent’s friends.
• The exosystem social settings that indirectly influence the child For example, parents' job
transfer affecting family dynamic as well as child environment such quality of schooling ,
means of entertainment etc.
• Macrosystem includes the culture in which the individual lives.
• Chronosystem involves events in the individual’s life course, and socio-historical
circumstances of the time such as, divorce of parents or parents’ economic setback, and
their effect on the child.
• In bronfenbrenner’s view is that a child’s development is significantly affected by the surrounding
environment such as everyday interactions , social and economic circumstances in which s/he is born.
• Children in impoverished environments face challenges like lack of stimulating experience( e.g., no
access to books , toys or educational outings
• Parents who are ineffective as role models, and live in overcrowded and noisy surroundings can lead to
difficulties in learning.
• Durganand Sinha (1977) has presented an ecological model for understanding the development
of children in Indian context.
• Ecology of the child could be viewed in terms of two concentric layers.
• 1)Upper visible layer : Consist of home, school, peer groups, and so on.
• The most important ecological factors influencing development of the child in the visible upper layer
constitute the:
• (i) Home, its conditions in terms of overcrowding, space available to each member, toys,
technological devices used, etc.,
• (ii) Nature and quality of schooling, facilities to which the child is exposed, and
• (iii) Nature of interactions and activities undertaken with peer groups from childhood onwards.
• 2) Surrounding layers : It constantly influence the “upper layer” Factors. However, their
influences are not always clearly visible.
• The elements of the Surrounding layer of ecology constitute the:
• (I) General geographical environment. It Includes space and facilities for play and
neighberhood condition , and population density.
• (ii) Institutional Setting provided by caste, class, and other Factors, and
• (iii) General amenities available To the child like drinking water, electricity, means of
entertainment and so on.
• The visible and the surrounding layer factors interact with one another and may have
different consequences for development in different people.
 OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
• Development is commonly described in terms of periods or stages. Human life proceeds through different
stages.
• . Developmental stages are temporary and are often characterized by a dominant feature which gives each
period its uniqueness. . During a particular stage, individual progresses towards an assumed goal - a state
or ability that s/he must achieve in the same order as other persons before progressing to the next stage in
the sequence. individuals do vary with respect to the time or rate of development from one stage to
another.
• Developmental tasks ae key skills or behaviors that individual as expected to achieve specific life stages.
• Different stages of development and their main features.
• 1) Prenatal stage:
• The period from conception to birth is known mas the prenatal period. Typically, it lasts for about 40 weeks.
• It is influenced by genetical and environmental factors
• Prenatal development is also affected by maternal characteristics, which include mother's age, nutrition,
and emotional state.
• Disease or infection carried by the mother can adversely affect prenatal development. For Example,
rubella , genital herpes, and (HIV) etc.
• Teratogens , including alcohol, tobacco, radiation and pollution cause serious abnormalities or even
death.
• Environmental pollutants and toxic wastes like carbon monoxide, mercury and lead are also sources of
danger to the unborn child.
• 2)Infancy:
• The brain develops at an amazing rate before and after birth. before birth the newborns have most but
not all brain cells. The neural connections among these cells develop rapidly.
• The newborn is not as helpless as they seem. The activities needed to sustain life functions are present
in the newborn — it breathes, sucks, swallows, and discharges the bodily wastes and also respond to
sounds and distinguish mother’s voice from others.
• Motor Development : The newborn’s movements are governed by reflexes — which are automatic, built-
in responses to stimuli.
• They are genetically-carried survival mechanisms, and are the building blocks for subsequent motor
development.
• Some reflexes present in the newborn — coughing, blinking, and yawning persist throughout their lives.
Others disappear as the brain functions mature and voluntary control over behavior starts developing .
• As the brain is developing, physical development also progresses.
• As the infant grows, the muscles and nervous system mature which lead to the development of fine skills.
Basic physical (motor) skills include grasping and reaching for objects, sitting, crawling, walking and
running.
• Sensory Abilities : Newborns prefer to look at some stimuli such as faces rather than others , although
these preferences change over the first few months of life. Their vision initially poor, improving by 6
months and by about the first year, vision is almost the same as that of an adult (20/20).
• Early they might be able to distinguish between red and white colors but in general they are color deficient
and full color vision develops by 3 months of age.
• Infants can hear immediately after birth. As the infant develops, proficiency at localizing sound improves.
• Newborns respond to touch and they can even feel pain.
• Both smell and taste capacities are also present in the newborn.
• Cognitive development : Jean Piaget stressed that Children actively construct their
Understanding of the world. Information does Not simply enter their minds from the
Environment.
• Piaget Believed that a child’s mind passes through a Series of stages of thought from
infancy to Adolescence. Each stage is characterized by a distinct way of thinking and is
age related.
• Socio-emotional development : babies From birth are social creatures. An infant starts
Preferring familiar faces and responds to Parent’s presence by cooing and gurgling.
• By 6 to 8 months of age they start showing a preference for their Mother’s company. When
frightened by a new face or when separated from their mother.
• The close emotional bond of Affection that develop between infants and their Parents
(caregivers) is called attachment.
• In a classic study by Harlow and Harlow (1962), baby monkeys preferred cloth surrogate
mother over wire one regardless which provide food . This study demonstrate that providing
nourishment or feeding was not crucial for attachment and contact-comfort is important.
• Human babies also form an attachment with their parents or caregivers who consistently and
appropriately reciprocate to heir signals of love and affection.
• According to Erik Erikson (1968), the first year of life is the key time for the development of
attachment. It represents the stage of developing trust or mistrust. A sense of trust is built
on a feeling of physical comfort which builds an expectation of the world as a secure and
good place.
• An infant’s sense of trust is developed by responsive and sensitive parenting. If the parents are
sensitive, affectionate, and accepting, it provides the infant a strong base to explore the environment.
Such infants are likely to develop a secure attachment. On the other hand, if parents are insensitive and
show dissatisfaction and find fault with the child, it can lead to creating feelings of self-doubt in the
child.
• Securely attached infants respond positively when picked up, move freely, and play whereas insecurely
attached infants feel anxious when separated and cry due to fear and get upset.
• A close interactive relationship with warm and affectionate adults is a child’s first step towards healthy
development.
• 3) childhood :
• The child’s growth slows down during early childhood as compared to infancy.
• The child develops physically, gains height and weight, learns to walk, runs, jumps, and plays with a
ball.
• Socially, the child’s world expands beyond the family and they begin to understand concept of morality.
• Cognitively, brain maturation and experience contribute to their ability to perform tasks and meet
expectation.
• Physical development : Early development follows two principles :
• (I) Development proceeds cephalocaudally, from the Cephalic or head region to the
caudal or tail Region. Children gain control over the upper Part of the body before the
lower part.
• , (ii) Proximodistal trend , growth proceeds from the center of body and moves towards
the extremities or more distal regions , so children gain control over their torso before
their extremities.
• These changes are the result of a maturing nervous system and not because of any
limitation since even visually impaired.
• Motor development in early childhood:
• Gross motor skills: - involves use of arms and legs - increased confidence and
purposeful movement - example activities: running, jumping, climbing etc.
• Fine motor skills: - finger dexterity and eye-hand coordination improve substantially
during early childhood - example activities: drawing, cutting, using utensils- left- or
right-hand preference also develop during this stage-
• 2. Cognitive development : cognitive development in early childhood focuses on piaget’s stage
preoperational thought.
• The child gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not physically present ( object
permanence). For example , children draw designs/figures to represent people, trees, dog etc.. This
symbolic thought helps them to expand their mental world .
• A salient feature of preoperational thought is egocentrism (self focus)- - *egocentrism:* - children
only see things from their own perspective. They may struggle to understand others' viewpoints.

• *Animism:* -children believe all things are living .-

• *intuitive thought (ages 4-7):* - children ask many "why" questions to explore how the world
worksheet : why is the sky blue,? How the babies make?
• *Centration:* - this is the another feature of preoperational stage , they focus on one aspect of a
situation, like choosing a tall glass over a short one, even if both hold the same amount of juice.
Children see the world only in terms of their own selves and are not able to appreciate others’ point of
• Between 7 and 11 years of age (the period of middle and late childhood)
intuitive thought is replaced by logical thought.
• This is stage known as concrete operational thought, which involves mental
operations
• operations are mental actions that allow the child to do mentally what was done
physically before.
• Concrete operations are also mental actions that are reversible.
• For example , in a well-known test, the child is presented with two identical balls
of clay. One ball is rolled by the experimenter into a long thin strip and other ball
remains in its original shape. On being asked which has more clay, the child of 7
or 8 years, would answer that, both have same amount of clay. This is because
the child imagines the ball rolled into thin strip and then into a ball, that means
S/he is able to imagine reversible mental action on concrete/real objects.
• In the concrete operations children can consider multiple aspect of the object.
• This stage helps leads to decline in her/his egocentrism and helps children see different
perspective.
• Thinking becomes more flexible, and children can think about alternatives when solving problems,
or mentally retrace their steps if required.
• preoperational children while understanding relationships between different properties of an object,
s/he cannot do abstract thinking, i.e. s/he still cannot manipulate ideas in the absence of objects.
• The growing cognitive abilities of children facilitate the acquisition of language also.
• Socio-emotional Development : The important dimensions of children’s socioemotional
development are the self, gender and moral development.
• The child begin to form sense of self through socialization , identifying who they are and want to be.
• The developing sense of independence makes children do things in their own way
• . According to Erikson, the way parents respond to their self-initiated activities leads to developing a
sense of initiative or sense of guilt
• For example, giving freedom and opportunities for play like cycling, running, etc. And answering
children’s questions will create a sense of support for the initiative taken.
• Negative responses (if they feel that their questions are useless, and games played by them are stupid)
the may lead to guilt over self-initiated activities, which may persist through the children’s later life also.
• Self understanding initially defined by physical traits( e.g., I am tall or I have black hair).
• . During middle and late childhood, the child is likely to define oneself through internal characteristics
such as, “I am smart and I am popular” or “I feel proud when teachers assign me responsibility in
school”.
• Children’s self descriptions expand to include psychological and social characteristics , such as
references to social groups like being a member of school’s music club, environment club, or any
religious group.
• Children’s self understanding also includes social comparison . They likely to think about what they can
do or cannot do in comparison with others. For example, “I got more marks than Atul” or “I can run
faster than others in the class”.
• This developmental shift leads to establishing one’s differences from others as an individual.
• As children enter school, their social world expands beyond their families. Their increased
interaction with peers significantly influences their development.
• Moral development: moral development involve learning to differentiate between the
rightness or wrongness.
• According to Lawrence Kohlberg, they pass through the various stages of moral
development, which are age related. And they approach thinking about right and wrong
differently at different ages.
• Pre-conventional stage(before age 9):thinks in terms of external authority. According to
her/him, actions are wrong because s/he is punished, and right because s/he is rewarded.
• Conventional stage ( early adolescence): moral reasoning based on societal
rules( parents or laws of the society) and gaining approval (not to avoid punishment). Rules
are internalized and viewed as absolute guidelines, which should be followed. Moral
thinking in this stage is relatively inflexible.
• Post conventional stage: As they grow, they gradually develop a personal moral code.
• By the end of childhood, children show gradual growth rate, improved coordination,
balance, language and logical reasoning. The child has become more involved in social
systems, such as family and peer group.

• Challenges of adolescence the term adolescence derives :

• The term adolescence derives from the Latin word adolescere, meaning “to grow into
maturity”. It is the transitional period in a person’s life between childhood and adulthood.
• Adolescence is commonly defined as the stage of life that begins at the onset of puberty,
when sexual maturity, or the ability to reproduce is attained.
• It is a period of significant biological and psychological changes. . While the physical
changes are universal, the social and psychological dimensions of the adolescent’s
experiences depend on the cultural context.
• For example,
• in cultures where the adolescent years ar
• Physical development : puberty or sexual maturity marks the end of childhood and signifies
the beginning of adolescence, which is characterized by dramatic physical changes in both,
growth rate, and sexual characteristics. However, puberty is not a sudden event, but is part of
a gradual process. The hormones released during puberty result in the development of
primary and secondary sexual characteristics.
• The primary sex characteristics include those directly related to reproduction and the
secondary sex characteristics include features or signs of achieving sexual maturity.
• Pubertal changes in boys are marked by acceleration in growth, facial hair, and changes in
voice. In girls, rapid growth in height usually begins about two years before menarche, the
onset of menstruation.
• The growth spurt generally begins at the age of 12 or 13 for boys and at the age of 10 or
11for girls.
• It is normal to have variations in the pubertal sequence. It may be influenced by genetical and
environmental factors.
• For example, identical twins reach menarche closer in time than do fraternal twins; girls from
affluent families go through menarche earlier than girls from poor families and age of menarche is
declining in industrialized nations due to better nutrition medical care.
• Physical development during adolescence is also accompanied by a number of psychological
change such as increased interest in members of the opposite sex and in sexual matters and
awareness of sexual feelings also develops.
• Many adolescents lack adequate knowledge or have misconceptions about sex and sexuality.
• Sex is a topic parents find difficult to discuss with children, so adolescents tend to become
secretive about sexual concerns which make exchange of information and communication
difficult. The
• Risk of AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases is the concern over adolescent sexuality.
• The development of a sexual identity defines the sexual orientation and guides sexual behavior.
it becomes an important developmental task for adolescents.
• Another important developmental task during adolescence is accepting one’s physical self.
Adolescents need to develop a realistic image of their physical appearance, which is acceptable
to them.
• Cognitive developmental changes : during adolescents, cognitive development shifts towards
abstract, logical, and idealistic thinking.
• They become more capable of examining others’ thoughts, and what others are thinking about
them.
• Adolescents’ developing ability to reason gives them a new level of cognitive and social awareness.
• Piaget believed that formal operational thought appears between the age of 11 and 15.
• During this stage adolescent expands beyond actual concrete experiences and they more abstract
reasoning abilities.
• In addition to being abstract, adolescent thoughts also idealistic. Adolescents begin to think about
ideal characteristics for themselves and others and compare, comparing real situations with their
ideal standards. For example, they may think what an ideal parent is like and compare their parents
with these ideal standards.
• Adolescent thinking becomes more systematic in solving problems — they think of possible courses
of action, why something is happening the way it is, and systematically seek solutions.
•
• Piaget called this type of logical thinking — hypothetical deductive reasoning.
• Logical thought also influences the development of moral reasoning. Social rules are not
considered as absolute standards and moral thinking shows some flexibility and also
create personal moral codes
• The adolescent recognizes alternative moral courses, explores options, and then decides
on a personal moral code.
• Adolescents also develop a special kind of egocentrism.
• According to David Elkind, imaginary audience and personal fable are two
components of adolescents’ egocentrism.
• Imaginary audience is adolescent’s belief that others are as focused with them as they
are about themselves. They imagine that people are always noticing them and are
observing each and every behavior of theirs.
• It is this imaginary audience, which makes them extremely self-conscious. as they feel
everyone notices a stain on his shirt, or a girl with a pimple feels, all people would think
• The personal fable is part of the adolescents’ egocentrism that involves their sense of uniqueness.
• Adolescents’ sense of uniqueness makes them think that no one understands them or their feelings.
For example, an adolescent girl thinks that none can sense the hurt that she feels because of being
betrayed by a friend.
• It is quite common to hear the adolescent say to the parents; ‘you don’t understand me’.
• Identity Formation in Adolescence : adolescence often seek answers to question like :Who am I?
Which subjects should I study? Do I believe in God?
• Identity is who you are and what your values, commitments and beliefs are. Defines one’s sense of
self, values, commitments and beliefs. T
• The primary task of adolescence is to establish an identity separate from the parents.
• During adolescence a detachment process enables the individual to develop a personalized set of
beliefs that are uniquely her or his own.
• In the process of achieving an identity the adolescent could experience conflict with parents and
within herself or himself.
• Succusses full resolution these conflicts leads to a new sense of self, failure results to
identity crisis.
• According to Erikson, “identity confusion can lead to individuals isolating themselves from
peers and family; or they may lose their identity in the crowd.
• Adolescents on one hand, may desire independence but may also be afraid of it and show a
great deal of dependence on their parents.
• Rapid fluctuations between self-confidence and insecurity are typical of this stage.
• Adolescents may at one time complain of being “treated like a baby” whereas on other
occasions they may seek comfort by depending on their parents.
• Seeking an identity involves searching for continuity and sameness in oneself, greate
responsibility and trying to get a clear sense of who one is, i.e. an identity.
• The formation of identity during adolescence is influenced by several factors. The cultural
background, family and societal values, ethnic background, and socio-economic status all
prevail upon the adolescents’ search for a place in society.
• Family relationships become less important as the adolescent spends more time outside
the home and develops a strong need for peer support and acceptance.
• Increased generally, interactions provide help them refining their social skills an trying
out different social behaviors.
• Peers and parents are dual forces, having major influences on adolescents
• At times conflicting situations with parents lead to increased identification with peers.
But generally parents and peers serve complementary functions and fulfil different needs
of the adolescents.
• Vocational commitment is another factor influencing adolescent identity formation.
• Adolescence requires the ability to think about future and to be able to set realistic and
achievable goals.
• In some cultures freedom is given to the young people to choose an, occupation, whereas
in certain other cultures the option of making this choice is not given to the children. Here
parents’ decision is likely to be accepted by the children.
• Some major concerns of adolescence : adolescence is a vulnerable period with
conflicts, uncertainties, occasional loneliness and group pressures.
• During this period peer influence, new gained freedom, unresolved problems may
create difficulties for many of you.
• Peer pressure can have both positive and negative effects.
• Adolescents are often confronted with decisions regarding smoking, drugs, alcohol, and
breaking parental rules, etc. These decisions are taken without much regard to the
effect they can have.
• Adolescents may experience uncertainty, loneliness, self-doubt, anxiety, and concern
about themselves and their future, they are also feels excitement, joy, and feelings of
competence as they overcome the developmental challenges.
• The major challenges faced by adolescents includes delinquency, substance abuse, and
eating disorders.
• Delinquency : delinquency refers to a variety of behaviors, ranging from socially
unacceptable behavior, legal offences, to criminal acts. Examples include truancy,
running away from home, stealing or burglary or acts of vandalism.
• Adolescents with delinquency and behavioral problems tend to have a negative self-
identity, decreased trust, and low level of achievement.
• Delinquency is often associated with low parental support, inappropriate discipline, and
family discord. Often adolescents from communities characterized by poverty,
unemployment, and having feelings of alienation from the middle class perform
antisocial acts to gain attention and to be popular with their peers.
• Most delinquent children do not remain delinquent forever.
• Factors reducing delinquency : Change in their peer group, becoming more aware of
their social responsibilities and developing feelings of self-worth, imitating positive
behavior of the role models, breaking negative attitudes, and overcoming poor self-
• Substance abuse : adolescent years are vulnerable to smoking, alcohol and drug abuse.
• Some adolescents take recourse to smoking and drugs as a way of coping with stress, this can interfere with
the development of coping skills and responsible decision-making.
• The reasons for smoking and drug use could be peer pressure and the need for acceptance the group, or
desire to act more like adults, or feel a need to escape the pressure of school work or social activities.
• It has been found that adolescents who are more vulnerable to drugs, alcohol, and nicotine use, are
impulsive, aggressive, anxious, depressive, and unpredictable, have low self-esteem, and low expectation for
achievement.
• Peer pressure and the need to be with their peer group lead to substance use.
• Long term use of drugs lead to physiological dependency, i.e. addiction to drugs, alcohol or nicotine may
seriously jeopardies the rest of the adolescents’ lives.
• Positive relationships with parents, peers, siblings, and adults play an important role in preventing drug
abuse.
• Successful anti drug programs in India like the a successful the Society for Theatre in Education Programme
( New Delhi) uses street performances to entertain people between 13 to 25 years of age while teaching
them how to say no to drugs.
• The United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) recognizes this programme as a model
for other organizations in the region.
• Eating disorders : adolescents’ obsession with self, living in fantasy world and peer
comparisons lead to certain conditions like body image issues.
• Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that involves relentless pursuit of thinness
through starvation.
• Adolescents often eliminate certain foods from their diets or to eat slimming foods only.
• The media promote thinness as the an ideal and fashionable image of thinness leads to
anorexia nervosa.
• Bulimia is another form of an eating disorder in which the individual follows a binge-
and-purge eating pattern.
• The bulimic goes on an eating binge, then purges by self-induced vomiting or using a
laxative at times alternating it with fasting.
• Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are primarily female disorders more common in urban
families.
 ADULTHOOD AND OLD AGE
• An adult is generally defined as someone who is responsible, mature, self-supporting,
and well integrated into society.
• There is a variation in developing these attributes, which suggests that there is a shift in
timing when an individual becomes an adult or assumes adult roles. For example, some
people take up jobs or getting married while still in college.
• The assumption of adult roles is directed by an individual’s social context and culture.
• The timing of important life events (i.e. Marriage, job, having children) varies across
cultures but is more consistent within the same culture.
• In early adulthood, two major tasks are, exploring the possibilities for adult living and
developing a stable life structure.
• The twenties represent the novice phase of adult development. Making the gradual, a
transition from dependence to independence should occur.
• This could be marked by an image of the kind of life the young person wants, especially
in terms of marriage and a career.
• career and work : In their twenties and thirties people focus on earning a living,
choosing an occupation, and developing a career.
• Entering work life is a challenging event in anyone’s life. It involves adjustments to new
environments, proving one’s competence, performance, dealing with competition, and
coping with expectations both of the employers and oneself.
• It is also the beginning of new roles and responsibilities. Developing and evaluating a
career becomes an important task of adulthood.
• Marriage, parenthood, and family : marriage life requires adjustments, such as
understanding each others preferences(other’s likes, dislikes, tastes, and choices) and
sharing household responsibilities especially if both are working.
• In addition to getting married, becoming a parent is a difficult and stressful transition in
young adults, even though it is usually accompanied by the feeling of love for the baby.
• Parenting experiences vary based on factors is affected like number of children in the
family, the availability of social support, and the happiness or unhappiness of the
married couple.
• Death of a spouse or divorce creates a family structure in which a single parent either the mother or
the father has to take up the responsibility of the children.
• Both parents are working is quite common. The stressors are similar to those faced by single
working parent, such as taking care of children, their school-work, illness, and coping with workload
at home and in the office, etc.
• Despite the stresses associated with parenting, it provides opportunity for growth and satisfaction
and is perceived as a way of establishing concern and guiding the next generation.
• Physical changes during middle ages are caused by maturational changes in the body.
• Though individuals may vary in the rate at which these changes occur, almost all middle-aged
people notice gradual deterioration in physical functioning such as decline in vision, sensitivity to
glare, hearing loss and changes in physical appearance (e.g., wrinkles, grey hair or thinning of hair,
weight gain).
• Some cognitive abilities decline with age particularly in long-term memory . Short-term memory is
less affected. For example, a middle-aged person can remember the telephone number
immediately after s/he has heard it but may not remember it so efficiently after a few days.
• Memory tends to show greater decline, while wisdom may improve with age.
 OLD AGE
• Just when “old age” begins, is not easy to determine. The traditional link between
retirement and old age shifting as people live longer, and retirement moving upward.
• Some of the challenges, which the aged have to cope with include retirement
widowhood, illness, or death in the family.
• The image of old age is changing in certain ways. Now there are people who have
crossed seventy years of age or so and are quite active, energetic, and creative. They
are competent and are therefore, valued by society in many walks of life
• Elderly people also involves in politics, literature, business, art and science.
• The myth of old age as an incapacitating and therefore, frightening phase of life is
changing.
• The experience of old age also depends on the socio-economic conditions, availability
of health care, attitude of people, expectations of society and the available support
system.
• Early adulthood focus on work, followed by family and in old age, health becomes the most important
concern.
• Successful ageing for much of our adult life focuses on how effective we are at work, how loving our
relationship are in our family, how good our friendships are, how healthy we are, and how cognitively fit
we are.
• Retirement from active vocational life is quite significant.
• Some people perceive retirement as a negative change. They consider it as a separation from an
important source of satisfaction and self-esteem. Others view it as a shift in life with more time to pursue
their own interests.
• Those older adults who show openness to new experiences, more striving and achievement oriented
behavior prefer to keep busy and are better adjusted.
• Older adults also need to adjust to changes in the family structure and new roles (grand parenting) that
have to be learnt.
• Older adults may depend on their children for financial support and to overcome their loneliness (after
children have moved out).
• This might trigger-off feelings of hopelessness and depression in some people.
• In old age feeling of loss of energy, and dwindling of health and financial assets, lead to
insecurity and dependency.
• . Indian culture favors dependency of elderly on their children, for old age needs caring.
• It is important to give the elderly a sense of security and belonging, a feeling that people care
for them (especially in the time of crisis), and to remember that we all have to grow old one day.
• Death is more common in late adulthood due to chronic diseases, while accidents are a leading
cause for children and younger adults death .
• 2. *Loss of a spouse*: the death of a spouse is seen as the most difficult loss, leading to grief,
loneliness, depression, financial challenges and many health problems.
• Widows are more common than widowers , because studies show that women live longer than
men and tend to marry men older than themselves.
• People in different cultures view death differently. In the gond culture in our country, it is
believed that death is caused by magic and demon. In the tanala culture of madagascar, natural
forces are thought to cause death.